Before it commits millions of dollars more to keep state troopers on the border, lawmakers need to know what DPS has accomplished during the border surge, state Rep. César Blanco, D-El Paso, said Monday.

A Texas Parks and Wildlife warden patrols the Rio Grande in July, 2014.

The final piece of a high-profile border security package got moving Tuesday when a House committee heard House Bill 12 by state Rep. Oscar Longoria, which would elevate the state's Border Prosecution Unit into an official statutory being.

Here's a breakdown of House Bills 1-20 and Senate Bills 1-20, providing a window into where House Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick are placing their priorities for the 84th legislative session.

In the Roundup: With lawmakers now more than two months into the legislative session, they are not wasting any time passing bills. The Senate has passed an open carry bill and a campus carry bill, while the House endorsed a border security measure.

Leticia Ramirez, a cook at the Loving Care Learning Center in Castlewood, shows how staff use filtered water to wash their hands during the regular, random water shut-offs this unincorporated community eperiences.

Residents of a small unincorporated community outside Houston hope legislation by state Rep. Armando Walle will help them get safe, reliable water service,and shine a light on parts of Texas with similar problems.

Most Rio Bravo and El Cenizo residents don't trust the tap water despite a new water treatment plant that was supposed to vault the two poor border towns into a better standard of living.This is part of our Undrinkable series on border communities that lack reliable, clean water.

After several reassurances from House members about what a border security bill is not intended to do, the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety voted out the sweeping measure on Wednesday.

In theory, clean, safe water should be flowing to all of Rio Grande City's 14,000 residents, but a long-standing arrangement with a handful of locally owned corporations keeps it from some parts of town. This is part of our five-story Undrinkable series.

Safe running water remains out of reach for the residents of Las Pampas. The residents of this remote West Texas colonia are forced to haul water from miles away. This is part of our five-story Undrinkable series on border communities that lack reliable, clean water.

Researchers have found that the water supply in Vinton is making people sick, but local politics have gotten in the way of a solution to connect to nearby El Paso's utilities. This is part two of our five-story Undrinkable series on border communities that lack reliable, clean water.

State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, confers with State Rep. John Otto, l, R-Dayton, during a point of order called on HB 11 border bill on March 18, 2015.

Texas House members overwhelmingly gave tentative approval to a sweeping border-security measure on Wednesday that would increase the number of state troopers on the border and establish a catchall intelligence center in Hidalgo County.

Sen. Charles Perry during a March 16th, 2015 Senate Subcommittee on border security

After taking a backseat in 2013, legislation to cut off funding to so-called sanctuary cities that don't use local police to enforce federal immigration laws is under debate before a Senate subcommittee.

Construction workers attend a February 2015 rally at the Texas Capitol during the Workers Defense Project's Day of the Fallen, which honors workers who died on the job.

Skirting tax laws and knowingly hiring unauthorized workers are common practices in Texas, especially in the state's construction industry. Lawmakers and workers' rights groups are trying again to target companies that misclassify workers.

Senator Ted Cruz held a press conference at the Anzalduas International Bridge in Mission surrounded by a group of local ranchers who told the senator they have been impacted by poor border security.

As he feels out a possible presidential bid, Ted Cruz has made border security and immigration his calling cards. But Texas' first Hispanic U.S. senator has only made three trips to border since taking office.

President Barack Obama in a speech to Texas Democrats at the Paramount Theater July 10, 2014.

Attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice filed an emergency motion asking an appeals court to lift a temporary halt to a federal immigration program that was issued by a Brownsville-based federal judge in February.